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Beginners Guide: How to upload data to the OpenEnergy Platform#

OpenEnergy Platform

About this guide#

This document describes how to upload data to the OpenEnergy Platform (OEP) using Python and the REST-API as well as a description on how to initiate the review process of that data.

Several steps are needed to contribute actively to the platform. Some of them you only need to do once to get started. The steps described in this document are the following:

  • (once) Register at the OpenEnergy Platform

  • (once) Register at GitHub and get invited to the OpenEnergy Platform Group

  • Create data table(s) and upload data table(s)

  • Create metadata and upload metadata to Github

  • Initiate review

  • Create factsheets

1. Things you only need to do once#

1.1. Register at the OpenEnergy Platform#

  • Registration

  • Click Login button on Homepage and choose the option Create a new account.

  • OR: go directly to https://openenergyplatform.org/user/register

  • Fill out the required fields and click on Submit.

  • You will receive an activation email, sent to your email address.

  • Follow the instructions received in the email.

  • After successfully activating and logging into your account, you will be able to view your user information.

  • API-Token

    • The API token is necessary to make authenticated requests to the API.

    • After you logged into the OEP, click the member icon in the upper right corner of the page

    • You can find your API-Token under Your Security Information by clicking on Show token:

1.2. Register at GitHub and get invited to OpenEnergyPlatform Group#

  • If you do not yet have a GitHub account, you need to register: https://github.com/join.

  • You will then need to become a member of the group OpenEnergyPlatform: https://github.com/OpenEnergyPlatform by getting invited to the group. This works as follows:

  • Get in touch via the contact form on the OpenEnergyPlatform: https://openenergyplatform.org/contact/.

  • Fill in the form with your request to be added to the OpenEnergyPlatform group on GitHub. An example text is provided in the screenshot below.

  • A response will not be immediate. Please wait until you receive an invitation to the GitHub group. Only then you will be able to upload metadata and initiate data review.

2. Things you will need to do any time you contribute new data and metadata#

2.1. Create and upload data table(s)#

Prerequisite for this step is that you are a registered user on openenergyplatform.org

The preferred way to create and upload data tables is via the API

If you do not want to upload tables via the API, you can do so using the CSV-Wizard

2.2. Create metadata#

You can create metadata that describes the context of your data in various ways. The easiest way is to navigate to the Meta information attached your table and click the Edit button: image You will then be presented with a set of fields that need and can be completed, see the display below:

image

Info: The .json specification of the metadata can be found here.

3. Complete your contribution#

This document described how to upload data and metadata to the OpenEnergy Platform. For your contribution to become even more useful to other users of the platform and as further support for the community, we encourage you to create factsheets to describe the data you provided and their context in more detail.

3.1. Create Factsheets#

  • The drop-down menu Scenario Bundles shows you the 3 different Factsheet categories.

  • Select a suitable factsheet category from the drop-down menu

  • Scenario Bundle: this is the place that ties together all the information that you may want to describe regarding the data you have just uploaded. You can provide information on the scenario characteristics, the study reports that deal with your data, the sectors and technologies depicted, the models and frameworks used. Use this factsheet to enrich your contribution.

  • Frameworks: use this factsheet to add information about the fundamental structure or toolbox to build a model, e.g. TIMES. Under Scenario Bundle you can then attach such a framework via a drop-down menu.

  • Models: to describe a model that has been used to run a scenario; ideally this relates to a scenario for which you have uploaded data to the OEP. Under Scenario Bundle you can then attach models via a drop-down menu to your scenario.

About this tutorial#

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Authors: Hannah Förster, Victoria Liste, Christian Winger (all Öko-Institut). Copyright: Öko-Institut (2021). License: CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Öko-Institut: Beginners Guide: How to upload data to the OpenEnergy Platform and initiate the review process. Last update: 2025-12-23